Upright annealing-furnace.



G. E. FAIRBANKS.

UPRIGHT ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6, 1912.

1,085,1 97, Patented Jan. 27, 1914,

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W WM 4,66 ATTORNEY G. E. FAIRBANKS.

UPRIGHT ANNEALING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 8, 1912.

1,085,197. Patented Jan. 27, 1914.

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WITNESSES.

CHARLES E. FAIRBANKS, 0F PlROVIDENCE COUNTY, RHODE ISLAND.

UPRIGHT ANNEALING-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 27, 1914.

Application filed December 6, 1912. Serial No. 795,241.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. FAIR-- BANKS, a citizen of the United States,.residing in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented new and useful Improvements in Upright Annealing-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification. l V

This invention aims to provide an 1mprovement in annealing furnaces especially adapted to the annealing of'materials which are subject to injury by oxidation. I propose to make the furnace upright, and to carry the articles through it by means of a continuous carrier. An objection to the old horizontal types of furnace has been the sagging of the carrier and consequent lnjury to the same. The upright construction also gives considerable economy in floor space and in cost of construction and. operation.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

l lgure 1, is a vertical section of one embodiment. Fig. 2, is a plan of a detail of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a vertical section of another embodiment.

'It is well known that a number of metals when heated to the temperature necessary to anneal them become oxidized to a greater or less extent. A number of devices have been invented toiprevent this oxidation and depending mainly upon either muflle furnaces or furnaces sealed at both ends. But in this invention the furnace or furnaces are open at the top and water sealed at the bottom. All of the revious furnaces that are sealed at both en s have been of a horizontal ty e and to some extent complicated.

Re erring to the embodiments of the invention illustrated, A represents a traveling carrier consisting of either chains or bars of n'fital pinned together to form a semi-flexible belt, and which passes around wheels B which are either grooved or toothed to receive the belt. Connected to this belt are trays or carriages G Iwhich are located at convenient intervals-and which hold the ma-. terial which is to be anhealed. These carriages C may be of any shape or construction. They swing freely and are always, in a horizontal position'. The carrier A moves in the direction of "the arrow so that the trays 0 enter the furnace at the top and leave it at the bottom.

The furnace D may be heated in any'desirable manner. I prefer, in this case, oil

or gas as a fuel, which delivered to the furnace through the'mixing jets E. Each jet has two branches as shown, one for air and one for oil or gas. In order that the combustion may be complete an excess of air is always admitted.

In order to remove the free oxygen that is contained in the excess air, a carbonaceous substance F (as coal, coke, etc.)- is introduced manually or mechanically through a door F so that the heated air coming in contact with it is sufiiciently reduced to prevent any oxifurnace D. The continued motion of the carriages C plunges the articles into the 1 water in the tank I and afterward lifts them out again. As thecarriages C are lifted out of the water in the tank I they come in contact with a hopper frame J causing the carriage to tilt and automatically throw the articles into a receptacle K. After passing over the, hopper frame J the carriages C assume their normal position and are ready for refilling. A motor L or other means may be used for driving the endless carrier and the trays or carriages. Thus one peison is sufficient to handlethe entire operation of the furnace.

The tank I contains the water which serves as a cooling agent. It serves also as an air seal for the lower end of the flue G. There is a certain amount of water lost by evaporation, but this can be easily adjusted by a water feeding arrangement.

Under some conditions it may be desirable or necessary to use extra precautions to keep free oxygen out of the annealing chamber or flue. In this case I provide an inner annealing chamber or flue G (Fig. 3) made of refractory material, such as alundum and Water sealed at its lower end. The articles to be annealed pass down this'inner flue G Without coming in contact (with the gases from which the heat is derived. The gases from the furnace or furnaces pass around between the wall of the flue G and the outer Wall H and, coming in contact with the inner flue G' heat it to the necessary temperature so that the air within is sufficiently high in temperature to anneal the articles to be treated. The steam which would under these conditions be liberated would in its ascent prevent any air descending and oxidizing the articles. With this construction the deoxidizer F may be omitted, if preferred.

While only one furnace chamber is shown it is to be understood that a number of furnaces or furnace chambers might be necessary in somev cases.

The method of construction indicated is merely for the purpose of illustrating the principle and it is realized that with development practical considerations might require some form of construction other than that shown.

What I claim is V 1. An upright annealing furnace for'annealing separate metal articles, said furnace having a free opening at the top and water sealed at the bottom, and having a continuous conveyer, said conveyer having carriages for conveying the articles to be annealed into and out of the furnace.

2. An upright annealing furnace for annealing separate metal articles, said furnace having mixing jets through which fuel is delivered to said furnace, a door through which a carbonaceous substance is introduced and said furnace having a combustion chamber communicating witha vertical annealing chamber.

' 3. An upright annealing furnace for annealing separate metal articles, said furnace being composed of an upright shaft having the lower end immersed in water and the 'upper end of which is open, said furnace having mixing jets through which fuel is delivered, a door through Which a carbonaceous substance is introduced, said furnace having a combustion chamber directly opening into the shaft, means for reducing any free oxygen contained in the combustion gases, and means for conveying the' articles to be annealed into and out of said shaft.

4. An 'uprightannealing furnace for annealing separate metal articles, said furnace m,

being composed of an upright shaft having an inner shell, the lower end of which'is immersed in water and the upper end of said inner shell being open, a combustion chamber opening into the upright shaft only,

means for conveying the articles to be an:

nealed into and out of the said inner shell,

and means for annealing said articles p-assing through said inner shell.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES E. FAIRBANKS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE E. HOLT, GEORGE F. KRAFT. 

